The 2015 Fintech Finance 35: Matthew Harris, Bain Capital Ventures

No. 3 Matthew Harris, Managing Director, Bain Capital Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-matt-harris-small.jpg

< The 2015 Fintech Finance 35

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-matt-harris.jpg

3
Matthew Harris
Managing Director
Bain Capital Ventures

Until recently, Matthew Harris hated “fintech.” Before the term was embraced as representing a hot sectoral trend, it was merely shorthand for the universe of vendors selling technology to financial companies. “The next ten years are going to be characterized by a grinding down of the cost bases of JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley,” says Harris, 42, who heads the New York office of Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures. “That’s not a good space to be a vendor.” For Harris, who early in his career worked on private equity deals for Mitt Romney at BCV parent Bain Capital, after graduating from Williams College in 1994 with a BA in political economy, the much more exciting opportunity is in what he calls finsurgents — companies like business lender OnDeck Capital that use technology to compete with incumbent institutions. Harris invested in New York–based OnDeck in 2006 through Village Ventures, an early-stage firm he had co-founded in 2000 with Williams classmate Bo Peabody. Harris’s more than a dozen investments there included TxVia, a mobile payments platform that Google acquired in 2012, and digital banking pioneer Simple, which Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria bought last year. “For me, at a small firm, even with a good personal brand, it was increasingly feeling like I was at a disadvantage, so I decided to come back to Bain [in 2012] and build the fintech practice within the venture arm,” Harris explains. BCV manages $3 billion of committed capital and has 24 investment professionals, five of them on the fintech team. Harris, who has invested $250 million over the past three years in companies like AvidXchange (commercial payments automation) and Digital Currency Group (see Barry Silbert, No. 13), enjoys the flexibility he has at Bain: “I can get interested in and back the best entrepreneur, whether it’s a woman just starting or a guy who’s got a $100 million company.”


The 2015 Fintech Finance 35

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-james-d-robinson-iii-james-d-robinson-iv-nav.png

1. James Robinson III
& James Robinson IV
RRE Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-jane-gladstone-nav.png

2. Jane Gladstone
Evercore Partners

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-matt-harris-nav.png

3. Matthew Harris
Bain Capital Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-steve-mclaughlin-nav.png

4. Steven McLaughlin
Financial Technology Partners

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-jonathan-korngold-nav.png

5. Jonathan Korngold
General Atlantic

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-richard-garman-brad-bernstein-nav.png

6. Richard Garman &
Brad Bernstein
FTV Capital

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-amy-nauiokas-sean-park.png

7. Amy Nauiokas & Sean Park
Anthemis Group

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-thomas-jessop-nav.png

8. Thomas Jessop
Goldman Sachs Group

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-meyer-malka-nav.png

9. Meyer (Micky) Malka
Ribbit Capital

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-hans-morris-nav.png

10. Hans Morris
Nyca Partners

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-maria-gotsch-nav.png

11. Maria Gotsch
Partnership Fund for New York City

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-marc-andreessen-nav.png

12. Marc Andreessen
Andreessen Horowitz

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-barry-silbert-nav.png

13. Barry Silbert
Digital Currency Group

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-jay-reinemann-nav.png

14. Jay Reinemann
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-mariano-belinky-nav.png

15. Mariano Belinky
Santander InnoVentures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-francois-robinet-nav.png

16. François Robinet
AXA Strategic Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-vanessa-colella-nav.png

17. Vanessa Colella
Citi Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-gregory-grimaldi-alan-freudenstein-nav.png

18. Alan Freudenstein & Gregory Grimaldi
Credit Suisse
NEXT Fund

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-justin-brownhill-neil-desena-nav.png

19. Justin Brownhill & Neil DeSena
SenaHill Partners

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-rodger-voorhies-nav.png

20. Rodger Voorhies
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-michael-schlein-nav.png

21. Michael Schlein
Accion International

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-kenneth-marlin-nav.png

22. Kenneth Marlin
Marlin & Associates

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-rumi-morales-nav.png

23. Rumi Morales
CME Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-mark-beeston-nav.png

24. Mark Beeston
Illuminate Financial Management

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-vladislav-solodkiy-nav.png

25. Vladislav Solodkiy
Life.SREDA

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-fabian-vandenreydt-nav.png

26. Fabian Vandenreydt
Innotribe SWIFT

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-derek-white-nav.png

27. Derek White
Barclays

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-alex-batlin-nav.png

28. Alex Batlin
UBS

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-jeff-greenberg-vincent-la-ruffa-nav.png

29. Jeffrey Greenberg
& Vincenzo
La Ruffa
Aquiline Capital Partners

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-howard-edelstein-nav.png

30. P. Howard Edelstein
REDI Holdings

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-nektarios-liolios-nav.png

31. Nektarios Liolios
Startupbootcamp FinTech

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-roy-bahat-nav.png

32. Roy Bahat
Bloomberg Beta

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-andrew-mccormack-nav.png

33. Andrew McCormack
Valar Ventures

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-lawrence-wintermeyer-nav.png

34. Lawrence Wintermeyer
Innovate Finance

2015-11-jeffrey-kutler-fintech-35-janos-barberis-nav.png

35. Janos Barberis
FinTech Hong Kong


Related